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NCAA softball: Oregon Ducks' season ends with 4-2 loss to Nebraska in game 3

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Oregon's Janie Takeda (19) heads home to her jubilant teammates after hitting a grand slam home run Sunday, May 5, 2013, in the third inning against Oregon State University. The Ducks beats OSU 8-0 in five innings on Sunday at Howe Field to sweep the three-game series and clinch their first Pac -12 title and an NCAA Tournament berth.
(AP Photo/The Register-Guard, Paul Carter)

They
had envisioned their season ending at the Women's College World Series in
Oklahoma City, Okla.

Instead,
they, along with fellow seniors, outfielder Allie Burger and second baseman
Kaylan Howard, watched as Nebraska head coach Rhonda Revelle, who grew up a UO
fan living in Eugene, enjoyed an ice water shower near home plate at their
expense.

"It's
just sad," Moore said in the postgame press conference, her voice cracking,
tears welling in her eyes. "It's just said to play your last game on Howe Field."

It
hurt. Badly enough to induce tears of disappointment for how their careers
ended but also why it ended with Oregon being the only one of two top-eight
seeds (Missouri) not to advance past this weekend.

The
Ducks (50-11) simply didn't play like a third-seed should and allowed Nebraska,
a 14th-seed, to steal their thunder.

Oregon
did all it could to chase Nebraska (45-14), playing from behind much of the
day. The Ducks, who lost game 1 on Saturday, 5-2, came back from a 3-1 deficit
in game 2 on Sunday to win 4-3 in 11 innings.

But
the only time Oregon led all series, all 25 innings, was when the Ducks scored
in the top of the 11th of game 2.

Other
than that, the Ducks were either trailing or tied, magnifying their mistakes,
such as errors and failing to capitalize on scoring opportunities.

They,
along with Moore's struggles, proved to be too much for the Ducks to overcome
against a team that displayed just a bit more skill and clutch play when it
counted most.

Moore,
Oregon's all-time leader with 100 wins (45 losses) and Pac-12 pitcher of the year, wasn't herself all weekend.
She gave up eight earned runs in 12 innings over three games.

UO's
fielder's didn't help matters. Their four errors led to three unearned runs on
the day.

"We
didn't play great defense behind (Moore), either," White said.

Moore
offered no excuses for her performance.

"They just came out swinging and hit a couple
of balls through the hole," Moore said. "Hard ground balls. Things fell their
way."

If
not for the pitching of freshman Cheridan Hawkins, Oregon's season could have
ended after Sunday's early game.

She
entered game 2 in the fifth inning with Oregon trailing 3-1 and proceeded to
strike out 11 batters over seven innings to earn the win.

White,
however, returned to Moore for game 2 feeling that her speed in the high 60s
would have more of an impact on Nebraska after it had faced Hawkins' speed in
the low 60s.

Instead,
Nebraska jumped out to 2-0 lead in the first inning and Moore was done after
three innings, down 3-2.

"They came out and they timed here up pretty
well so I had to make the switch again," White said.

Hawkins
then pitched four innings allowing just one run to give Oregon a chance to come
back. But the Ducks were never able to push base runners across home plate.

It
wasn't for a lack of trying. Oregon's lineup had several hard hit balls find
their way into the gloves of Nebraska's fielders.

In
the fifth inning of game 3, Pappas hit a line drive right at Nebraska center
fielder Jordan Bettiol for an easy out with a runner at third.

"It
seemed like we were hitting a lot of balls right at people," Pappas said.
"Really hard balls. If those go through it's a completely different game."

The
four departing seniors will leave Oregon a different program than how they left
it.

They
went to the World Series last year and this year led the Ducks to their first
ever conference title.

Tears
of disappointment flowed Sunday. But the legacy of the four seniors will live
on within a new culture of winning where not reaching the World Series is cause
for disappointment.

"We've
taken a huge step forward under their guidance and leadership," White said.
"And as I told the team, I think they've left a pretty good legacy behind them
and something for us to build on for the future."